5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) - a multifunctional amino acid as a plant growth stimulator and stress tolerance factor.

AbstractSoil drought is a major problem in plant cultivation. This is particularly true for thermophilic plants, such as maize, which grow in areas often affected by precipitation shortage. The problem may be alleviated using plant growth and development stimulators. Therefore, the aim of the study was to analyze the effects of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), zearalenone (ZEN), triacontanol (TRIA) and silicon (Si) on water management and photosynthetic activity of maize under soil drought. The experiments covered three developmental stages: three leaves, stem elongation and heading. The impact of these substances applied during drought stress depended on the plant development stage. 5-ALA affected chlorophyll levels, gas exchange and photochemical activity of PSII. Similar effects were observed for ZEN, which additionally induced stem elongation and limited dehydration. Beneficial effects of TRIA were visible at the stage of three leaves and involved leaf hydration and plant growth. A silicon preparation applied at the same developmental stage triggered similar effects and additionally induced changes in chlorophyll levels. All the stimulators significantly affected transpiration intensity at the heading stage.

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Engineering Climate-Change-Resilient Crops: New Tools and Approaches

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22157877 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (15) ◽

pp. 7877

Author(s):

Fahimeh Shahinnia ◽

Néstor Carrillo ◽

Mohammad-Reza Hajirezaei

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Sustainable Agriculture ◽

Stress Tolerance ◽

Crop Yield ◽

Plant Science ◽

Chemical Treatments ◽

Coated Nanoparticles ◽

Rapid Climate Change ◽

Protective Resources

Environmental adversities, particularly drought and nutrient limitation, are among the major causes of crop losses worldwide. Due to the rapid increase of the world’s population, there is an urgent need to combine knowledge of plant science with innovative applications in agriculture to protect plant growth and thus enhance crop yield. In recent decades, engineering strategies have been successfully developed with the aim to improve growth and stress tolerance in plants. Most strategies applied so far have relied on transgenic approaches and/or chemical treatments. However, to cope with rapid climate change and the need to secure sustainable agriculture and biomass production, innovative approaches need to be developed to effectively meet these challenges and demands. In this review, we summarize recent and advanced strategies that involve the use of plant-related cyanobacterial proteins, macro- and micronutrient management, nutrient-coated nanoparticles, and phytopathogenic organisms, all of which offer promise as protective resources to shield plants from climate challenges and to boost stress tolerance in crops.

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Alleviation of Salt Stress in Wheat Seedlings via Multifunctional Bacillus aryabhattai PM34: An In-Vitro Study

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13148030 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (14) ◽

pp. 8030

Author(s):

Shehzad Mehmood ◽

Amir Abdullah Khan ◽

Fuchen Shi ◽

Muhammad Tahir ◽

Tariq Sultan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Salt Stress ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Stress Tolerance ◽

Bacterial Strain ◽

Acc Deaminase ◽

Wheat Growth ◽

Wheat Seedlings ◽

Pgp Traits ◽

Bacillus Aryabhattai

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria play a substantial role in plant growth and development under biotic and abiotic stress conditions. However, understanding about the functional role of rhizobacterial strains for wheat growth under salt stress remains largely unknown. Here we investigated the antagonistic bacterial strain Bacillus aryabhattai PM34 inhabiting ACC deaminase and exopolysaccharide producing ability to ameliorate salinity stress in wheat seedlings under in vitro conditions. The strain PM34 was isolated from the potato rhizosphere and screened for different PGP traits comprising nitrogen fixation, potassium, zinc solubilization, indole acetic acid, siderophore, and ammonia production, along with various extracellular enzyme activities. The strain PM34 showed significant tolerance towards both abiotic stresses including salt stress (NaCl 2 M), heavy metal (nickel, 100 ppm, and cadmium, 300 ppm), heat stress (60 °C), and biotic stress through mycelial inhibition of Rhizoctonia solani (43%) and Fusarium solani (41%). The PCR detection of ituC, nifH, and acds genes coding for iturin, nitrogenase, and ACC deaminase enzyme indicated the potential of strain PM34 for plant growth promotion and stress tolerance. In the in vitro experiment, NaCl (2 M) decreased the wheat growth while the inoculation of strain PM34 enhanced the germination% (48%), root length (76%), shoot length (75%), fresh biomass (79%), and dry biomass (87%) over to un-inoculated control under 2M NaCl level. The results of experiments depicted the ability of antagonistic bacterial strain Bacillus aryabhattai PM34 to augment salt stress tolerance when inoculated to wheat plants under saline environment.

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Down-Regulation of SlGRAS10 in Tomato Confers Abiotic Stress Tolerance

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes12050623 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 623

Author(s):

Sidra Habib ◽

Yee Yee Lwin ◽

Ning Li

Keyword(s):

Salt Stress ◽

Abiotic Stress ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Stress Tolerance ◽

Abiotic Stresses ◽

Abiotic Stress Tolerance ◽

Functional Characterization ◽

Flavonoid Biosynthesis ◽

Ros Scavenging ◽

Down Regulation

Adverse environmental factors like salt stress, drought, and extreme temperatures, cause damage to plant growth, development, and crop yield. GRAS transcription factors (TFs) have numerous functions in biological processes. Some studies have reported that the GRAS protein family plays significant functions in plant growth and development under abiotic stresses. In this study, we demonstrated the functional characterization of a tomato SlGRAS10 gene under abiotic stresses such as salt stress and drought. Down-regulation of SlGRAS10 by RNA interference (RNAi) produced dwarf plants with smaller leaves, internode lengths, and enhanced flavonoid accumulation. We studied the effects of abiotic stresses on RNAi and wild-type (WT) plants. Moreover, SlGRAS10-RNAi plants were more tolerant to abiotic stresses (salt, drought, and Abscisic acid) than the WT plants. Down-regulation of SlGRAS10 significantly enhanced the expressions of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) to reduce the effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as O2− and H2O2. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline contents were remarkably high in SlGRAS10-RNAi plants. Furthermore, the expression levels of chlorophyll biosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis, and stress-related genes were also enhanced under abiotic stress conditions. Collectively, our conclusions emphasized the significant function of SlGRAS10 as a stress tolerate transcription factor in a certain variety of abiotic stress tolerance by enhancing osmotic potential, flavonoid biosynthesis, and ROS scavenging system in the tomato plant.

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Efficacy of Indole Acetic Acid and Exopolysaccharides-Producing Bacillus safensis Strain FN13 for Inducing Cd-Stress Tolerance and Plant Growth Promotion in Brassica juncea (L.)

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11094160 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 4160

Author(s):

Farheen Nazli ◽

Xiukang Wang ◽

Maqshoof Ahmad ◽

Azhar Hussain ◽

Bushra ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Stress Tolerance ◽

Brassica Juncea ◽

Contaminated Soils ◽

Effective Strain ◽

Antioxidant Enzyme Activities ◽

Cd Stress ◽

Cd Accumulation ◽

Bacillus Safensis

Untreated wastewater used for irrigating crops is the major source of toxic heavy metals and other pollutants in soils. These heavy metals affect plant growth and deteriorate the quality of edible parts of growing plants. Phytohormone (IAA) and exopolysaccharides (EPS) producing plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria can reduce the toxicity of metals by stabilizing them in soil. The present experiment was conducted to evaluate the IAA and EPS-producing rhizobacterial strains for improving growth, physiology, and antioxidant activity of Brassica juncea (L.) under Cd-stress. Results showed that Cd-stress significantly decreased the growth and physiological parameters of mustard plants. Inoculation with Cd-tolerant, IAA and EPS-producing rhizobacterial strains, however, significantly retrieved the inhibitory effects of Cd-stress on mustard growth, and physiology by up regulating antioxidant enzyme activities. Higher Cd accumulation and proline content was observed in the roots and shoot tissues upon Cd-stress in mustard plants while reduced proline and Cd accumulation was recorded upon rhizobacterial strains inoculation. Maximum decrease in proline contents (12.4%) and Cd concentration in root (26.9%) and shoot (29%) in comparison to control plants was observed due to inoculation with Bacillus safensis strain FN13. The activity of antioxidant enzymes was increased due to Cd-stress; however, the inoculation with Cd-tolerant, IAA-producing rhizobacterial strains showed a non-significant impact in the case of the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POX) and catalase (CAT) in Brassica juncea (L.) plants under Cd-stress. Overall, Bacillus safensis strain FN13 was the most effective strain in improving the Brassica juncea (L.) growth and physiology under Cd-stress. It can be concluded, as the strain FN13 is a potential phytostabilizing biofertilizer for heavy metal contaminated soils, that it can be recommended to induce Cd-stress tolerance in crop plants.

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